Big NRL tackles 'just my job': McCullough

Wayne Cousins

The respected Broncos hooker had just made 59 tackles in Friday's NRL win over Newcastle Knights of which 38 came in the first 40 minutes, but to him, it was just another night at the office.

"It's what I need to do in the middle. We knew we were going to be in a tough battle with the Knights and we took plenty of confidence out of our defence early," McCullough said.

"We put ourselves under a bit of pressure but it is all about turning up for each other in defence."

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The Broncos certainly did that, and more, to turn in their best defensive effort of the season in the 32-6 win at Hunter Stadium.

The visitors withstood a barrage of attacking pressure in the opening 10 minutes to keep the Knights scoreless before going on to take a 16-0 lead.

Corey Parker again the led the way in a typical captain's knock and lock Matt Gillett was a constant threat on the edge with his powerful running. Fullback Ben Barba produced his best game for his new club.

"I think everybody is just doing their bit at the moment for the team, from the blokes in the middle, to the guys who have got to hit the holes out wide," McCullough said.

"That's just my job to make those tackles. Being a smaller guy, opposition packs are always going to run at me.

"A lot of those tackles I make are just me in coming in around the legs to help the boys out. It is just one of those little jobs I try to do to help the team."

With two strong away wins over St George-Illawarra and Newcastle under their belt, McCullough said it was vital the team backs it up against South Sydney at Suncorp Stadium on Friday night.

"We have got to go back-to-back," McCullough said.

"We spoke about it after the (Newcastle) win. We have a break after the Souths match (due to representative weekend), so the onus is on ourselves to really back it up at home.

"Souths are going great. They will want to bounce back after going down to the Bulldogs by a point so it is going to be another big game for us."